Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

As great as Shane Battier and Mike Miller/James Posey were, the Grizzlies wouldn't have even won 45-50 games and made the playoffs without Pau. Associating the Grizzlies' inability to defeat the Spurs, Suns and Mavericks with Pau's capability to improve the Bulls is illogical.

My point is that it seems a stretch to suggest that a player who has not lead his team anywhere or accomplished anything of significance is going to be the player who leads the Bulls to the NBA's ultimate prize. Yes, the Grizzlies faced tough competition in the Playoffs (though I think they could have taken at least one or two games total in those three appearances) but all the same time Gasol hasn't established himself as a player who guarantees playoff success. I don't think it's illogical to be skeptical of a player, who is for the most part unproven in the postseason, and his ability to vault the Bulls into immediate contention.

[Dan's Brain]

The playoffs are better suited to the Bulls style of play at the moment. Good defensive teams will usually fare better in the post-season. The Bulls can still make the conference finals with the team they have. But they are also a Ben Gordon injury away from a guaranteed first round exit or missing the playoffs entirely.

Thats why we would need some sort of insurance policy. And the more experience you have come playoff time the better.

And a big cheer to us for getting to the 30th page of the thread. Every one of them quality.

[benji]

My point is that it seems a stretch to suggest that a player who has not lead his team anywhere or accomplished anything of significance

He "led" the Grizzlies to three straight 45-50 win seasons and playoff appearances. He has played at an all-star level for four straight years. (Having five total years.) He is one of the twenty best players in the league. I would say that is a pretty solid record.

but all the same time Gasol hasn't established himself as a player who guarantees playoff success. I don't think it's illogical to be skeptical of a player, who is for the most part unproven in the postseason, and his ability to vault the Bulls into immediate contention.

Blaming a teams' best player for the teams' faults is highly illogical and yet it keeps being perpetuated. (see McGrady, Garnett, etc. even though nobody seems to blame Jordan for the Bulls' failures back in the day )

Gasol's playoff performance was on par with his regular season performances, but not only did they face vastly superior teams all three times, a few of his teammates have always crapped out in the playoffs.

I think it is entirely stupid for the Bulls to not get a player because he's "unproven in the postseason" because his team has not won anything. (And that logic could preclude them for trading for Garnett and O'Neal who have not won anything past the second round.) Every single one of these Bulls is pretty much as "unproven" exempting Wallace (who is a one-way player now) and P.J. Brown (who is terrible) so I think it is a mute point. Ignoring "provenness" no one on this team has anything on Gasol's total package. He is a top twenty player, who is deadly on offense, and would have boosted a starved unoffensive team.

This current team "competes" because the East is a wasteland, Pau would have improved the offense a ton and the Bulls would have been legitimate contenders. I do not see how you can ignore what Pau would actually do on the court just because his teams were beat around by the cream of the crop in the West.

Take a look at the Bulls C/PF rotators: (ORtg is points produced per possession...times 100 to look pretty)
Wallace: 85.3 ORtg (8.9 poss per game, 10.4 poss per 40)
Brown: 80.2 ORtg (7.8, 16.3)
Allen: 82.0 ORtg (5.0, 19.0)
Sweetney: 83.8 ORtg (4.9, 22.0)
Khryapa: 80.0 ORtg (3.8, 18.5)
Thomas: 80.1 ORtg (5.3, 19.3)
Nocioni: 102.0 ORtg (15.3, 22.0)
First Seven: 82.4 ORtg
All Eight: 88.3 ORtg (Which is counting all of Nocioni's minutes as being at PF or C which they clearly aren't.)

Then there's Gasol: 104.9 ORtg (21.9, 24.4)

Replacing just half of those first seven players possessions with Gasol improves the Bulls offense over five points (since everyone loves points per game...the Bulls currently score 99ppg with Gasol taking just half the above possessions they would score over 104ppg) and the removal of Deng does neglible damage as his possessions would be split between the super efficient Bulls backcourt and Gasol.

Gasol is an average defender, and better than Allen and Sweetney who are terrible, AND the Bulls defense is powered by its' backcourt not its' frontcourt, so the Bulls defense wouldn't be hurt too badly (almost not at all actually, as Gasol's shot blocking makes up for the slight position advantage the aging Brown brings anymore) even knocking them two points on defense (which is more than they would drop, but I'm playing it safe) they would still be better.

From 99ppg for, 94.5ppg against. To 104.5ppg for, 96.5ppg against. From +4.5 to +8.0. And this is all ignoring that the Bulls backcourt players would become MORE EFFICIENT because instead of zero inside scoring to guard (nobody has to guard Wallace-Brown/Allen, so the Bulls play 3-on-5) teams would have to pay attention to Gasol, opening up the outside more. (As a side note, the Bulls should be a 54 win team with their current point differential, but they are only on pace to be a 46 win team...on the same adjustment they would be on pace for 52 wins and have a pythag of 62 wins.)

The key to this deal is not that you are just adding Gasol, but that you are taking possessions away from the horrible Bulls frontcourt and giving them to a super efficient frontcourt scorer. Is Gasol in the same class as Wade, Dirk, Ming, Duncan and Kobe? (And then you have KG, LeBron who float in and out of that top five...) No, but he is easily in that next tier of players.

(And while I am in my fantasy land, if the Bulls also could've gotten Atkins in the deal...rawr...they probably would've leaped into the top ten on offense.)

The playoffs are better suited to the Bulls style of play at the moment. Good defensive teams will usually fare better in the post-season

The last below average offense to win a title? 1994 Rockets, and they had Hakeem. Before that was the 1979 Sonics. Betting on a terrible offense and great (but not the runaway best) defense isn't the smartest idea.

Title teams are great on BOTH ends. (Even the suprise Heat of last year were top ten on both offense and defense.) The Bulls are only great on one end. In the East the Pistons are 5th on offense, 6th on defense. The only top ten (nearly top five!) in both team in the East, which tells you why the Bulls still have a shot at coming out of the East...even without a frontcourt that can score.

I guess I am different and just like to build teams that have huge advantages over their competition instead of just being "good enough" to take advantage of a situtation.

[Matt]

well that was rather convincing

[beau_boy04]

Text taking from:http://chicago.about.com/cs/sport1/a/jackson_jordan.htm

By the time Jackson moved up to the NBA from the CBA, Jordan had been a Bulls player for five years. That's five years without a title. How important was Jackson to Michael's development as a player? So important that every time Jackson had a salary dispute with Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, Jordan let it be known that he would not return as a player if he didn't have Jackson as a coach. Empty threats by Jordan to get management to do what he wanted, you say? Apparently not. After all, when Jackson "retired" from basketball in 1998, Jordan went through an incredibly long period of indecision but in the end he, too, said good-bye. There is very little doubt that if Jackson had returned as Bulls head coach during the 1998-99 season, Michael would have returned as a player.


By the way, anybody knows why Orlando Woolridge got traded out of Chicago in 1987?

[Andrew]

He "led" the Grizzlies to three straight 45-50 win seasons and playoff appearances. He has played at an all-star level for four straight years. (Having five total years.) He is one of the twenty best players in the league. I would say that is a pretty solid record.

That's true, I did exaggerate somewhat when I said he accomplished nothing of significance. However, I just don't see him as the player who would've made the Bulls immediate title contenders as people keep suggesting. If he had several clutch performances to his name or had led an overachieving squad to heights they probably shouldn't reach then it might be different but as it stands, I remain skeptical that he would have vaulted the Bulls to new heights. Could he help the Bulls? Most certainly. I'm just not convinced the addition of Gasol would have made them significantly better to the point where a championship would be a realistic goal.

I guess it comes down what kind of package was ultimately rejected at the deadline. From what I heard Jerry West didn't want to back down from his asking price of Deng and Gordon for Gasol. Such a deal would have left the Bulls' perimeter attack significantly depleted at the expense of adding Gasol, who would have limited viable options to kick it out to once the defense collapsed on him in the post. They would have addressed a major need but gone from one extreme to the other.

Meanwhile, great OT win today and a new career high of 48 points for Gordon. I reckon I'll end up ordering that one from PonTel.

[beau_boy04]

Just for fun

Michael Jordan salary by the end of 97 or 98

http://paisleychick.org/fun/5.html

[maes]

i don't see how drafting a 6'6 combo guard with short arms would help alleviate this rebounding problem...

OK i have to concede another rookie SG doesn't propel the Bulls the the Finals either...i guess he'd notch us a few more wins when the Bulls inevitably run into that scoring brick wall, but that's it. Ok terrible draft, but Pax picked up a good kid for the future.

Read a good article by Bill Simmons on the Bulls. Don't agree with all of it (especially about trading Deng), but it does illustrate the Bulls position and how a Gasol trade isn't as crazy as people seem to think.

Bill Simmons on the Bulls

We agree on two things: The Thomas-May trade would have made sense, and Luol Deng is going to be really, really good. Still, you're missing the big picture on a Gasol trade.

We know that ...

1. The Bulls overpaid Ben Wallace and acquired P.J. Brown's expiring deal specifically to make a bigger move this season ... and then they did nothing. Well, why not just keep Tyson Chandler then? Have you seen his numbers in New Orleans the past few weeks? He's averaging 17 rebounds a game this month. How can anyone claim the Bulls didn't botch this scenario to smithereens? Chandler makes two-thirds as much money as Wallace AND he's 10 years younger AND he's getting better (and not worse). Am I missing anything?

2. Wallace isn't the same rebounding/defensive presence that he was 3-4 years ago. For all we know, this could be his last good season. Didn't they HAVE to compete for a title this season? What's the point of getting Wallace, then? Why not keep Chandler if you're planning on stockpiling assets and young players for some nebulous Trade To Be Made?

3. Gasol would be perfect for Chicago because he commands double teams (opening the perimeter up for Kirk Hinrich, Nocioni and Ben Gordon) and could have been hidden defensively (he's not a terrible defender, just mediocre). Before you start downing his credentials, just remember that, in the past three seasons, the Grizzlies won 50, 45 and 47 games in a superior Western Conference with Gasol giving them 20-22 points a night. We know for a fact that you can build an entire offense around him and his beard.

4. Chicago's deepest position is small forward, where they have Deng, Nocioni (one of the best Glue Guys in the league) and Thabo Sefolosha (an athletic rookie with real promise). They could have replaced 80-85 percent of Deng's numbers with Nocioni/Sefolosha ... but Gasol would have quadrupled P.J. Brown's scoring numbers and surpassed his rebounding numbers as well. Statistically, that's a no-brainer upgrade.

5. Jerry West wasn't giving Gasol away, which meant Paxson had to pay full value (or even overpay a little) to pry him away. That's the only way he was getting him.

So here's my question: Regardless of the sport, the ultimate goal for any team is a championship, right? As currently constructed, the Bulls can't make the Finals without low-post scoring, a reality that can't be fixed this summer (when Brown's contract expires and kills that avenue for a trade) and can't be fixed in the 2007 draft (where they're probably picking in the 10-to-16 range with the Knicks' pick). For any Bulls fan who says, "fine, we'll keep stockpiling assets and make a move this summer or before next February's deadline" ...

Um ...

For who? Who are you getting?

Here's the complete list of effective low-post scorers in the NBA, in no particular order: Chris Bosh (untouchable); Al Jefferson (probably untouchable); Nenad Krstic (out for the season); Eddy Curry (not happening); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (plodding and overpaid); Jermaine O'Neal (semi-touchable because of his contract); Shaq (not going anywhere); Dwight Howard (untouchable); Emeka Okafor (probably untouchable); Carlos Boozer (untouchable with the Jazz playing so well); Kevin Garnett (possibly touchable down the road); Zach Randolph (semi-available and semi-crazy); Amare Stoudemire (untouchable); Elton Brand (untouchable); Chris Kaman (available and wildly overpaid); Andris Biedrins (untouchable); Tim Duncan (untouchable); Yao Ming (untouchable); Pau Gasol (available).

Look at that list again. By not doing anything last week, the Bulls announced to the entire league, "We're giving up any realistic chance of winning the East this season, biding our time for the next 6-12 months and praying that either KG or Jermaine O'Neal become available ... And if they don't, we'll have to roll the dice with Zach Randolph and hope he and Scott Skiles don't fight to the death."

If that was their ultimate objective -- KG or O'Neal -- then that's an even better reason to acquire Gasol (on the hook for $13.7 million in 2008), because they could have rented him for one season, then repackaged him somewhere else this summer. In Friday's column, I knocked the Bulls for failing to overpay for Gasol with Deng, Ty Thomas and the Knicks No. 1 pick in 2007 (throwing in expiring deals of Mike Sweetney and Malik Allen to make the numbers work). Admittedly, that's about 115 cents on the dollar -- although I'm not as high on Thomas as others (by all accounts, he's a surly dude), and the Knicks could sneak into the playoffs thanks to Wade's injury and Orlando's collapse (which puts the pick in the 15-16 range). Since Deng/Thomas for Gasol is a fair swap (you have to give up something to get something, right?), the Bulls would have sacrificed the Knicks' pick (as a trading tax) for a legitimate chance to make the 2007 Finals with Wallace, Gasol, Nocioni, Duhon and Hinrich starting and P.J. Brown, Ben Gordon, Sefolosha and Adrian Griffin coming off the bench. That's the best nine-man rotation in the East. Hands down.

Instead, they did nothing.

So let's say they're planning on making a move this summer for KG (on the books for $22 million in 2008) or O'Neal ($19.7 million). KG would cost Deng, Thomas and either Gordon or Hinrich. O'Neal would cost Thomas, the Knicks' pick and either Gordon or Deng. In other words, they'd be giving up everything they could have traded for Gasol (as well as any chance to win the title in 2007). If they acquired Gasol last week, they could have eventually made him the centerpiece of a KG/O'Neal deal this summer OR they could have gone the other way and moved him to the Celtics for Al Jefferson, a future No. 1 pick and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract (then used the Ratliff deal to acquire another blue-chipper during the season). Either way, they could have competed for the 2007 title, given Gasol a four-month test drive and had more flexibility to maneuver this summer.

And that's why I'll always believe the Bulls should have overpaid for Gasol with the Deng-Thomas-Knicks' pick package. Sometimes in sports, you have to push your chips to the middle of the table. This seemed like one of those times. Call me crazy.

EDIT: Gasol's Defense
I see quite a few posts taking for granted that Gasol sucks on D (and i must admit...it looks like that to me too). I checked what 82games said for actual stats. I didn't use this year because A. he hasn't even played the majority of minutes this year B. Memphis is obviously tanking for Oden/Durant/Wright.

But checking the 82 game's 2005-2006 defensive stats, Opponent Production (lower is better):
Gasol: 15.1
Chandler: 15.2
Sweetney: 18.8
Nocioni: 16.6
Ben Wallace (pistons): 14.5
Rasheed (pistons): 16.5
Jermaine O'Neal: 14.9
KG: 14.8
Chris Bosh: 15.4

It's simply not possible for a guy to block 2.2 shots a game and not alter shots. Gasol is the #8 shot blocker in the league. Everybody above him is a defensive stud (Brand, Duncan, Mourning, Okafor), everybody below him is a defensive stud (Ben Wllace, Kirilenko, Dwight Howard)...but somehow Gasol is the lone aberration in the entire NBA? The only top 10 shotblocker with bad defense?

Seems unlikely.

[Andrew]

1. The Bulls overpaid Ben Wallace and acquired P.J. Brown's expiring deal specifically to make a bigger move this season ... and then they did nothing. Well, why not just keep Tyson Chandler then? Have you seen his numbers in New Orleans the past few weeks? He's averaging 17 rebounds a game this month. How can anyone claim the Bulls didn't botch this scenario to smithereens? Chandler makes two-thirds as much money as Wallace AND he's 10 years younger AND he's getting better (and not worse). Am I missing anything?

2. Wallace isn't the same rebounding/defensive presence that he was 3-4 years ago. For all we know, this could be his last good season. Didn't they HAVE to compete for a title this season? What's the point of getting Wallace, then? Why not keep Chandler if you're planning on stockpiling assets and young players for some nebulous Trade To Be Made?

The Wallace/Chandler situation is disappointing though there's no guarantee Chandler would be putting up career numbers had he remained a Bull. I think a change of scene and a change of coaches is in part responsible for Chandler's breakout year. Still, Wallace for $15 mil per year is looking more and more like a very average move.

3. Gasol would be perfect for Chicago because he commands double teams (opening the perimeter up for Kirk Hinrich, Nocioni and Ben Gordon) and could have been hidden defensively (he's not a terrible defender, just mediocre). Before you start downing his credentials, just remember that, in the past three seasons, the Grizzlies won 50, 45 and 47 games in a superior Western Conference with Gasol giving them 20-22 points a night. We know for a fact that you can build an entire offense around him and his beard.

4. Chicago's deepest position is small forward, where they have Deng, Nocioni (one of the best Glue Guys in the league) and Thabo Sefolosha (an athletic rookie with real promise). They could have replaced 80-85 percent of Deng's numbers with Nocioni/Sefolosha ... but Gasol would have quadrupled P.J. Brown's scoring numbers and surpassed his rebounding numbers as well. Statistically, that's a no-brainer upgrade.

Hard to disagree with that, acquiring Gasol certainly could have helped the Bulls this season (though I'm still wary of the prospect of giving up Deng). However, I still think talk of title contention with Gasol on board is a lofty expectation. Speaking of title contention, I'm not really on board with the whole "the Bulls must win NOW" mentality. To me, that's the kind of ultimatium that is more suited to a team that's been together a lot longer, come much closer to competing for a championship and is starting to get long in the tooth.

Obviously it's dangerous to become complacent but being impatient isn't a recipe for success either. These days there seems to be a three or four year approach to rebuilding. If that yields no championship, it's time to scrap everything. Imagine if the Bulls did that in the 80s. Michael Jordan would be gone by 1988 and there wouldn't be six championship banners hanging in the United Center now.

5. Jerry West wasn't giving Gasol away, which meant Paxson had to pay full value (or even overpay a little) to pry him away. That's the only way he was getting him.

That's also true but as I said before it comes down to what Jerry West ultimately wanted from the Bulls. The package Bill Simmons suggested (Deng/Thomas/New York's pick) leaves a balanced team with Gordon still heading up their perimeter attack. However, if West didn't back away from his demand of Deng and Gordon then the Bulls would be overpaying too much and going from one extreme to the other, upgrading their frontcourt at the expense of their backcourt.

[benji]

But checking the 82 game's 2005-2006 defensive stats, Opponent Production (lower is better):

That is not actually a great measure because it counts things like rebounds and assists which an individual defender cannot do much to change. That said, Gasol did rate last season as an above-average defender, he got a stop on 52% of his counterpart's possessions (completely average player got 48%...52% puts him just outside the top ten for power forwards last season) and got 8.1 stops a game. (Second on the team to Battier's 8.6 a game.)

Speaking of title contention, I'm not really on board with the whole "the Bulls must win NOW" mentality. To me, that's the kind of ultimatium that is more suited to a team that's been together a lot longer, come much closer to competing for a championship and is starting to get long in the tooth.

The problem is that the Bulls young guys are not improving in terms of changing their game to become great players, this season they are all hitting their likely peak in shooting percentage, otherwise they are the same players they were two years ago for the most part. If the Bulls players do not improve, and because Wallace is slowly becoming less useful, the Bulls do have to try and win now because this is not a team built to develop over the long term and they have little room to make moves. (I am assuming they MAX or near-max out both Gordon and Deng.)

Obviously it's dangerous to become complacent but being impatient isn't a recipe for success either. These days there seems to be a three or four year approach to rebuilding. If that yields no championship, it's time to scrap everything. Imagine if the Bulls did that in the 80s. Michael Jordan would be gone by 1988 and there wouldn't be six championship banners hanging in the United Center now.

I think that is a terrible analogy in this case. Jordan was a SUPERSTAR from almost the get-go. No one on the Bulls is probably even half as good as Jordan. The rest of those Bulls teams from Jordan's early years were scrapped and they brought in an entire different team by '91. Ignoring Jordan, by their first title how many Bulls were left from 1985? Zero. '86? One. '87? One. (Paxson in those last two.)

A better example would be the Bulls passing on a Miller-Brand-Artest frontcourt for a worthless player like Jalen Rose and the youth of Chandler. The difference there being that they had had Miller and Brand and saw they were great players, and Artest was a great defender who was making solid leaps each year. And they still passed on them. So it is still not a great argument, but a better one than trying to compare it to the mid-80's.

I admit I don't know too much about West's desire for Gordon, (all these rumors are probably about as accurate as me me getting drunk and making up trades on RealGM) but if Simmons is right about a Deng/Thomas/Brown/Pick deal for Gasol, the Bulls should have made that move and they will come to regret it, unless every single Bulls player bucks the trend and has their "explosion" in their fourth season. I think that deal makes some sense for both teams if Gasol was actually demanding such a trade and it is a move they will have to make later and get less in return.

[beau_boy04]

Here my friends

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/lottery2007/mockdraft

play with the lottery a lil bit, we are currently # 12 but only 6 games away from the 3rd worst record

[air gordon]

A few thoughts on the Gasol possible trade…

almost to his own fault, Paxson has been honest to the media with possible draft picks/trade scenarios.

Shortly after the trade deadline passed, Paxson was on a Chicago sports radio station reiterating on how he didn’t want to give up 2 of the “core” players ( i don’t understand why Duhon is considered a core player in the 1st place)

So maybe the Deng, TT, PJ, pick for Gasol was media made and I’m guessing since the salaries matched up- the rumor stuck?

I don’t think any bulls fans are under the illusion that they are championship contenders, even in a desolate East. And I think its clear a player of Gasol’s ability would make put them in the East “elite”. As Andrew mentioned though, acquiring him depended on the price

i don’t understand this sense of urgency for the Bulls to win NOW. Perhaps for maybe the “core”. Probably Gordon and Deng will get big contracts somewhere on par with Hinrich’s. but that doesn’t make them untradable commodities (i.e like trading a player who signed for the qualifying offer). There’s always a big market for solid, young players with that dreaded potential tag, even if stat geeks like us are quick to point out they are not as great as we think. In addition, those 3 will no longer be on rookie contracts so they will be easier to move for a legit all star player

I will agree it does seem a little strange to acquire PJ Brown and his expiring contract but not use it in a trade. i think that’s 2yrs straight Paxson has done this

as mentioned earlier, with the exception of the Pistons, there isn’t a team that’s a big threat to own the conference within the next year or 2.

A few semantics…

Chandler is indeed busting out when you consider he’s been doing it as a starter and he doesn’t have Curry wearing down the big men for him in the 1st and 3rd quarters. and i'm 100% sure Chandler would not have the season he is having if he stayed in Chicago.

I’m not really sure how you (benji) concluded that tyrus Thomas value dropped a ton. his block numbers are through the roof per 40 minutes

Nocioni being out has forced Skiles to give mintues to chumps like Allen and Sweetney… even if Noce isn’t exactly a post force, he does give them solid production from the PF spot

if you like offense, order the Bulls vs Bucks game

Matt- you truly are the most "accepted" insane poster/spammer here and me remarking about this feeding the beast

[Andrew]

I watched most of the second half on SopCast in between watching Lakers/Bucks on TV. Suffice to say it wasn't an impressive effort after they fell apart in the third, not long after closing the gap. Hopefully tomorrow's game against the Magic (Fox Sports 2, 12:00 PM AEST, fellow Aussies ) will be a better showing. Howard will no doubt be a beast as usual but if they can keep the rest of the Magic in check and play a lot better at the offensive end than they did against the Heat they could be able to overcome it.

[Andrew]

Well, the Magic game was much better to say the least, even with Hinrich hampered by foul trouble in the second half. The third quarter got pretty sloppy though with those nine turnovers. In lieu of a low post scoring threat, coming out aggressively and building a big lead is their best defense against the perimeter scoring drought they are prone to experience. I'd like to see them start every game as though they're coming off a 33 point loss.

It seems like every time I see a Bulls game, Tyrus Thomas has a couple of really nice blocks and tonight was no exception. I thought he and Wallace did a fine job on Dwight Howard, with most of his damage coming in the third quarter lull. When he was fouled, he was fouled hard and forced to earn his points from the foul line. He's not going to shoot 5/14 every night but obviously it's preferable to giving up the easy dunk or layup. They did let him grab seven offensive boards, though.

[Dan's Brain]

Ultimately though, they negated his impact. Thats all you can really ask of them.

And Kirk Hinrich has to be hoping the Bulls dont get homecourt advantage in the playoffs. His first quarter was terrific, as was his second quarter interception. I wouldnt have minded Garbage time starting a little earlier. Thabo probably could have used more of a run. Not that he showed much anyway.


EDIT: Oh, and malik allen going to hospital with chest complaints, according to Craig Sager.
uh-oh. here we go again....

[Andrew]

Ultimately though, they negated his impact. Thats all you can really ask of them.

Absolutely. You can live with the numbers if you win, particularly if it's a 24 point victory. Before the game I had visions of Howard breaking out with a 30 and 15 game but the frontcourt got in the way of that. More than a couple of his easier baskets and offensive boards came in the third quarter slump. If he were doing that while the Bulls were throwing their best defense at him it would've been much more discouraging.

And Kirk Hinrich has to be hoping the Bulls dont get homecourt advantage in the playoffs. His first quarter was terrific, as was his second quarter interception.

Good stuff from Hinrich indeed. As far as homecourt advantage and Hinrich's road play are concerned, how's this for a wacky idea: the Bulls lobby for their opponents to wear retro road uniforms at home more often, forcing them to wear their home whites rather than their red road jerseys. It worked in the season opener, it worked against Orlando. Both times Hinrich had a fine game. You know the myth about bulls and the colour red.

For anyone who may be wondering, no, I'm not being serious. I'm allowed at least one lame attempt at humour per month.

Oh, and malik allen going to hospital with chest complaints, according to Craig Sager.
uh-oh. here we go again....

For Malik's sake, I hope it's nothing serious. Obviously the Bulls need all the frontcourt help they can get but his health and welfare come first.

[btam2]

i hope the bulls can defeat the sixers

I hope they win em all! haha Or get a big streak going at the end and then get into the playoff except that now, we are in! Freaking 10 games over .500, it be great if they get a nice winning streak and make that even more.

Its kinda far from now but I'm hoping they win against Cleveland cuz its gonna be my first Bulls game Just nice they win on your first visit to a Bulls game at the UC.

[maes]

Dr Tom Amberry, Bulls Free Throw Coach

This guy is 79 and made 2,750 free throws in a row. GOOD LORD.

http://www.ocmetro.com/archives/ocmetro ... _2002.html

[Dan's Brain]

He's obviously never met Ben Wallace. damn.

[BigKaboom2]

www.freethrow.com

That guy's the man - didn't know he was with the Bulls. Definitely got to get Thomas, Wallace, and Sweetney in there with him.

[Dan's Brain]

Good game by Luol Deng, keeping Iguodala to 25% shooting. Also scoring 20 of his own with 6 assists.

And Big Ben 2 assists shy of a triple double: MONSTER!

[Andrew]

In 1993 at age 71, Amberry - a resident of Leisure World in Seal Beach - stepped up to the free-throw line at a local gym and proceeded to sink 2,750 free throws in a row.

That's impressive enough on its own, but he's proven his ability in competition as well:

He has appeared on local and national TV shows, and has had many "shoot outs" against NBA players. He has never lost.

Of course, it's one thing to shoot free throws in a drill and another to do it during the course of a game. But it's an amazing feat nevertheless.

Getting back to the Bulls, that was a lucky escape in Philadelphia after Griffin missed those two free throws and Iguodala misfired from downtown at the buzzer. Ultimately that's not the best way to win games but since they're looking to improve their position or at least ensure homecourt advantage in the first round should they be unable to overtake Cleveland, any victory they can get is a plus.

The game against the Celtics was a better performance, not their finest game but they got the job done, putting the game out of reach in the final minute rather than allowing a final potential gamewinning shot. Tyrus Thomas looked great catching those lobs and making a couple of strong moves to the hoop. I'd like to see more of that as well as his usual knack for swatting away attempts around the basket. And on top of that, his dunks were a sight to see.

They're now eleven games above .500, looks like it will be another strong finish. Needless to say, to become an elite team they'll need to play well from start to finish but it's still encouraging to see them playing so well leading up to the postseason.

[Dan's Brain]

Also what was with the green jerseys against the celtics? St Paddy's day? Bit weird doing it almost a week early if it was.

Or do i need to adjust my monitor?

[Andrew]

Yeah, it was in honour of St Patrick's Day. They did the same thing last year in a few games leading up to the 17th.

[Toche]

What can the bulls do if they cant get their insider scorer in a couple of years? I mean, what if they cant get KG or Jermaine. Its a guy like Shareef or Sean May enough?

I´m really worried because I think the bulls wasted PJ's expiring contract, they should traded for something..anything!

What's the next step? Trading nocioni?